Mother of a Man-Child (aka Kelly Millar)
Interview with Mother of a Man-Child (aka Kelly Millar)
Some families are blessed with twins, some families with several pairs of twins. Kelly Millar’s family has had twins in three generations(!) With her unique perspective as a twin mom, she decided to start blogging about her and her twin sons experiences. Her blog, Mother of a Man-Child, has now inspired a book with the same name.
We have interviewed Kelly - dig in to learn more!
Who are you and what do you do?
I am a mother, marketer, blogger and now self-published author. I live in Melbourne, Australia with my husband Rob, twin sons, (now 21) and a daughter (now 14) - yes, another teenager in the house!
I come from a long line of twins, with a twin sister (fraternal) and many twins across the family, in fact, my grandmother had twins, my mother had twins, and I had twins.
I commenced my career in advertising before moving client-side into marketing roles and have juggled a full time career for over 30 years, whilst raising my children. Mother of a Man-Child is my first blog and now book.
How did you get started?
Seven years ago, I was inspired to start a blog (www.motherofamanchild.com) after yet another "encounter" with my teenage Man-Child son. With a latent interest in social media and the fledgling new media form of “blogging” back in 2010, I decided what better way to learn than to “do”. The blog also fed a long held enjoyment of writing and storytelling – hopefully evident in the well -crafted anecdotes that you will read in the book.
With twin boys (double trouble), I was rarely short of material for the weekly blog post, and over a four-and-a-half-year period, I anonymously documented the journey of the men-children from the ages of 14 through to 18. Upon reaching adulthood, I decided that it was time to retire the blog, and leave the men-children in peace (lest I should incriminate them)!!
What's your favorite part of your book Mother of a Man-Child?
Whilst I look back and laugh out loud at some of the antics of the boys and how we parented them through so many challenges, for me personally, it’s also the often emotionally laden reflections throughout the book that I really like, and am so pleased to have documented.
Some examples below:
https://motherofamanchild.com/2013/05/10/in-memory-of-my-mum/
https://motherofamanchild.com/2012/03/09/happy-16th-birthday-boys/
How did your twins react to the book?
They knew I was writing the blog anonymously over the years, however I don’t think they looked at it on a regular basis. When they turned 18 and I mentioned that I planned to print the blog as a book, I think they were secretly pretty excited.
When I finally received the first printed editions of the book, they got their own signed copies of course. The feedback from one of the twins with days was wonderful (via text message of course)!!
“200 pages down in your book! Most reading I’ve done all year. It’s really cool to read about my teenage years and see things from your perspective. Truly amazing and generations will love this book.”
When I posted on social media that the first printed edition had arrived, their friends were also very excited, and started reading the blog and requesting copies of the book. I know they have loved the attention, and enjoyed their 15 minutes of fame (including an article in the local paper).
What do you think is the most special about the twin bond?
I think the overwhelming twin bond is based on absolute trust and understanding that emanates from spending 9 months in the womb and then being constantly together during the formative years.
Having said that, my boys, like my sister and I, are not just different physically, being fraternal twins, but they have very different personalities, interests, careers and friendship groups. My twin sister and I were very close in our early school years, and then developed our own friends in secondary school, with our lives taking even more divergent paths after school.
But as adults, we came to recognise and value even more how special and unique being twins is, and we have become even closer over the years, seeing each other regularly, talking often, and holidaying together with our families.
So whilst I see that my boys are following a very similar path to me and my sister, as they develop their own careers and lead their lives independently, I know that in time, they will be very close to each other, and come to treasure the wonderful bond that twins have, just as my sister and I did.
What is your advice to other twin moms about raising twins?
Enjoy the journey – it’s unique and special and absolutely twice the joy!!
Celebrate their uniqueness, whether that is being identical or not. For me, we loved that our boys were non-identical and really encouraged their individuality. Having said that, I know being identical is just as special.
When they are little, take all the help you can get……there will be plenty of offers, so don’t be afraid to accept it. “Supermum” status is over-rated!
Enjoy the attention – I cannot tell you how many times we were stopped in the street my people who wanted to talk to me and look at the boys – that’s pretty special and doesn’t happen to everyone so relish the wonder!
Where can people buy the book?
For more information, you can visit the blog or buy the book on amazon.
Thank you, Kelly. We love that you have shared your and your twins’ story!
Twinning Store is on a mission to shed light on all the fantastic twins out there in the world with our twin interview series (check out the others, including with Musical.ly artists Twinsxtn here and the twinpreneur behind about-twins.com here)
Twinning Store was established by twin sisters K & E in Los Angeles in July 2017. We sell clothing for twins, because twins rule! The store is made for twins by twins.
